Report: Keller Administration misused federal COVID $$

According to news reports (based on a report by the City of ABQ IG) the Keller Administration spent $288,000 in federal money that was supposed to go to early childhood centers for bonuses for top employees instead. The bonuses were given to 27 city workers and ranged from almost $4,000 to $22,000.

This scandal-in-the-making raises numerous concerns:

1. How could Keller’s Administration be so blatant? They should know better.
2. We know that a LOT of COVID money was wasted and spent fraudulently. Hopefully there never is a “next time (pandemic),” but it was clear (to us) at the time that shutting down the entire economy was unwise. Allowing the federal government (both the Trump and Biden Administrations working with Congress) to hand out cash was not going to go well. This is just one of example with total COVID relief fraud topping $9 billion.
3. Why is the City involved in early childhood in the first place? APS runs the schools in Albuquerque and has its own bureaucracy and infrastructure.